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Study: Men Quick to Pick Pretty Girl

Men aren't shallow. They are genetically programmed to choose the most fertile mate.

Shana Franklin

The 33 News

July 21, 2010

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There are a lot of things that be accomplished in just one second.

You can snap a picture, flash a smile or give a shout out. But, according to science, men need less time than that to judge a woman's looks as a potential partner. Dallas resident Joey Munoz 'fessed up, "Oh yeah, I do it. I'm guilty." Brittany Gleason lamented, "That's not very long."

Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the University of Kent found men were more easily distracted than women when shown a picture of an attractive member of the opposite sex while performing a simple computer task. One of the researchers told me, "This wandering eye may serve them well because attractive women represent higher mate value". Men are evolutionary programmed to look for the mate than can help them produce the most children.

Grapevine psychiatrist Dr. Gary Malone said, "The takeaway for us is we can live in ivory towers and eat prepared food. We still have the same impulses, we're genetically identical to the people who were struggling across the prairie, trying to kill a mammoth."

We put Colorado transplant Matt Schutte to our own, significantly less scientific study by showing him two pictures. One was a picture of what he called an attractive woman and the other was of what he considered an unattractive woman. He called out attractive immediately. It's something he and other men say makes sense. Dallas resident Greg Dahlmann said, "Men are more about instant gratification, I believe."

And some women are a little more stressed, knowing impressions are made in a few one-thousandths of a second. For Maggie Bowen, that answer was instantaneous "Do you feel a little more pressure now that I've told you? Yeah, I sure do."

Researchers say it's also about evolution when it comes to women. They take longer to weigh in on a man because they're deciding whether he can provide for them and protect them.